Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to providing information stored at an access network to a content provider, and more specifically to providing user information relating to a user of a user device requesting content from the content provider.
Description of the Related Technology
Operators of access networks, for example mobile network operators, typically collect and store information relating to subscribers (referred to herein as users) of the mobile network. Such personal information may comprise, for example age, gender, preferences, and other personal information associated with that user, as well as location, browsing behaviors, network condition, and other contextual information associated with that user. For example, personal information may be collected upon registration of a user with the mobile network operator, or collected during use of the mobile operator network, and stored in a database within the mobile network operator's trusted network. As such, this information may therefore be proprietary to the mobile network operator.
Content providers, may typically use personal and/or contextual information associated with a user in order to personalize the content, and ultimately the experience, that is requested from and sent to a user device of the user. Such personalized content may, for example, include targeted advertising, specifically selected for a user based on, for example, the user's age, gender, and past browsing behavior. Such personal information may however be stored at, and proprietary to, a mobile network operator. Content providers are motivated therefore to obtain the personal information from the mobile network operator.
In some systems, a mobile network operator establishes trusted relationships with content providers. In this case, when a user requests content from one of these trusted content providers via the mobile network, the mobile network operator concatenates a user identifier to the request, which identifier the content provider can then use to lookup personal information associated with the user sending the request.
There are however, drawbacks to such systems, for example in relation to risks to data protection and security, and in establishing and maintaining trusted relationships with and between content providers.
It is an object of the present invention to mitigate at least some of the deficiencies of the prior art.